1. Field of the invention
The invention relates generally to techniques for gaining facility in the playing of musical instruments and more specifically to techniques for gaining facility in making transitions from a key or mode to another key or mode.
2. Description of related art
Since at least the time of Bach's Well-tempered Clavier, classically-trained musicians have used systematically-constructed sets of exercises to gain proficiency in singing or playing their instruments. One of the kinds of proficiency taught in these exercises was improvisation within the context of classical music. For example, the famous piano virtuoso and etude writer Carl Czerny's Opus 200 (1836) is a set of etudes entitled A systematic introduction to improvisation on the pianoforte. The title of Czemy's work expresses the underlying paradox: improvisation, that seemingly most spontaneous form of musical expression, requires careful and systematic preparation on the part of the musician. As Czemy put it, “When the practicing musician possesses the capability not only of executing at his instrument the ideas that his inventive power, inspiration, or mood have evoked in him at the instant of their conception but of so combining them that the coherence can have the effect on the listener of an actual composition-this is what is called: Improvising or Extemporizing.”
While improvisation in the context of classical music is of at most historical interest, jazz improvisation is a living art. Jazz was originally an aural tradition, and improvisation was learned by listening to jam sessions and participating in them. As jazz has grown more complex and traveling big bands and their jam sessions have disappeared, people have begun to teach improvisation in schools. With that has come a large and confusing literature devoted to teaching improvisation.
Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous creation of music in the jazz style. Like traditional composition, jazz improvisation is a craft. It is a conditioning of the mind, body and spirit, brought about by the study of musical principles. This conditioning becomes a necessary prelude to the professional practice of the art, despite the implications of the word spontaneous. Just as spontaneity is combined with conditioning, so is the existing style of jazz combined with original of expression. One is lost without the other, and so we seldom hear an improviser's solo that do not contain melodic fragments or patterns: from the melody of the tune used, from a fellow performer's solo, from an influential player of the time, from a different tune altogether, from material previously improvised, or from patterns (original and borrowed) currently studied in individual practice. Another obvious combination is creation and performance. The jazz improviser pre-hears in his mind the next musical event, and then has the added task of playing it cleanly and with feeling. This is the process of jazz improvisation.
The study of jazz improvisation may be separated into three main areas of study. These areas are: facility, linguistics, and interaction.
Facility includes any act which helps the player to gain control of his or her instrument and/or any act contributing to the reading and comprehension of musical information. In regards to the alto saxophone gaining control of the instrument includes but is not limited to coordination between the fingers and tongue, embouchure development, air support, posture, reading notes, chord symbols, articulations, rhythms, dynamics, etc . . . In order to overcome limited facility on one's instrument one may practice long tones, scales, arpeggios, interval patterns, melodic phrases, and other devices. In order to develop better reading and comprehension of musical information, one may study musical notation privately or with a teacher.
One must become as proficient as possible on his or her instrument. Any musician is inhibited and limited by the lack of knowledge of the instrument. Musicians who know their instruments we have a better chance of conveying the music that is contained within their mind to the listener. The finest, most successful and well established jazz players not only continue to practice their instruments to maintain technical facility but also are consistently seeking to improve jazz vocabulary.
Like languages with regional accents, jargon, slang terms, and phrases, most music including jazz tends to have its own idiomatic phrases. To exercise jazz linguistics, one may engage in several activities. These include, but are not limited to, repeatedly listening to a multitude of jazz recordings, singing along with jazz recordings or others, transcribing jazz melodies and improvised solos, and practicing idiomatic phrases or patterns found in jazz solos or elsewhere. The most important way to learn the linguistics of jazz is listening to jazz. Virtually every great jazz player has learned the art form in the same manner: through learning the solos of other great players.
When listening to great jazz artists, students may find a particular sequence of notes enjoyable and transfer this melodic pattern of notes to his or her instrument. The idea of learning a pattern and when to play it should not be thought of as uncreative. Because it is impossible to continuously create new meaningful ideas, improvisers at times resort to playing ideas or patterns that have been practiced and mentally logged before hand. This is taking nothing away from the improvised because it is often just as hard to play an idea several times in a row, each time with the same conviction, as it is to create completely new ideas.
The frequent mention of melodic fragments, patterns, and sequences of notes in the foregoing discussion suggests the need for a collection of patterns to be practiced diligently by the serious student of jazz improvisation. After the student has acquired some basic vocabulary, has a good sound, and knows how to properly articulate and inflect, learning to organize (or reorganize) material is the next logical step to master.
Because jazz is multifaceted, interaction, leading to good communication, in performance with other musicians is vital. Jazz is a complex art form combining the talents of individuals together as a collective whole. Therefore the art of improvisation must be taught both individually and collectively. In this fashion ideas may be shared aurally and developed. As essential to students as technical information and counsel is the understanding of jazz acquired directly through performance.
Facility, linguistics, and interaction work collectively to develop a strong sense of comfort in the jazz idiom and jazz improvisation. Many times these defined areas in fact overlap. One such case is the transcribing of a melodic phrase, or “lick,” from a solo and practicing it in all keys. Here, both facility and linguistics are used. Facility is employed due to the practice of tongue and finger coordination. Linguistics is utilized due to the practice of phrasing the melodic figure just as one had heard it on the jazz recording.
Another such case of overlapping is partaking in a jam session. Here, interaction is exercised, for the wonderful interplay between jazz musicians. Also, linguistics is implemented due to the “conversation” flowing back and forth between jazz musicians. Again, facility, linguistics, and interaction operate together to develop a strong sense of ease in the performance of jazz improvisation.
In New Concepts in Linear Improvisation, Miami, Fla. CPP/Belwin, Inc., 1976, Ramon Ricker discusses three distinct categories of jazz improvisers: the “head” player, the “ear” player, and the “ideal” player. Each is described. Most important is an explanation of how each type of improviser would improvise.
Ricker describes a “head” player as one who has a good intellectual grasp of improvisation, but whose solos never seem to work. Instead, they seem to lack the emotion or musical sense to make things happen.
An “ear” player is said to be a student who frequently will have no idea of what he is playing, but the performed solos will sound passable. The performer will sound good on blues and other simple chord progressions, but when more difficult tunes are encountered, fails hopelessly.
Ricker describes the “ideal” player as one who has the theoretical knowledge, but doesn't let it get in the way of his or her music. He states, “The marriage of intellect and emotion is a difficult one to consummate, but nevertheless quite possible.” Fundamental to becoming an ideal player is that the player must be able to hear an interesting improvisation in his or her head and then be able to immediately play what he or she has heard on his or her instrument. In order to become an ideal player, a student must have an education in improvisation that balances technique and ear. It is an object of the techniques disclosed herein to provide such an education.